


dahlia

by humanveil



Series: the language of flowers [20]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Coda, Episode: s04e09 Juvenile, F/F, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-11 10:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15313050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/humanveil/pseuds/humanveil
Summary: It’s about balance. Compartmentalising. Work and home and the boundaries you put between. But it’s a better theory than it is a practice, especially with the job they do. Especially when it bleeds over like this.





	dahlia

_dahlia —_

_inner strength; grace; commitment; balance._

 

The bar is dimly lit, the low light casting the space in a yellowish glow. Alex walks through the crowd, twists and turns around people until she finds who she’s looking for. 

Liz sits at the bench, jacket thrown over the bar stool and head down, eyes shut, her fingers rubbing at her temple. She’s nursing a near-empty glass, the amber liquid sloshing at the sides as she holds it in her other hand. 

“Knew I’d find you here,” Alex says, slipping into the spot beside her. 

Liz doesn’t look up. “Stalking me, Alexandra?” she says, though her usual bite is missing. Her voice more mellow, flat. It tells Alex more than enough about the state she’s in. 

“You’re not the only one who could use a drink,” is what Alex says. She catches the eye of the bartender and motions him over, places her bag on the bench in front of her to get comfortable. “Guilt’s a bad look on you.” 

Liz does look up, now. Turns in her chair to face her. “Are you trying to comfort me, Alex?” she says, and this time she sounds more like herself. Sounds just the tiniest bit like she’s teasing. 

Alex’s mouth twitches, her finger circling the edge of her glass when the bartender hands it to her. She thinks of the day they’ve had, of the past week. Thinks of the dead woman the fourteen-year-old boy with a life sentence he doesn’t deserve. Of the twelve-year-old boy who probably will, one day. “Don’t you need it?” 

Liz laughs, the sound more like a sigh: tired and humourless and airy. She lifts her drink, downs what’s left of it, and mutters, “I knew what I was doing.” 

“You tried to fix it,” Alex says. Lifts her own glass to take a sip and grimaces at the taste. “That was the point, wasn’t it? Having me question Zachary? They should have taken the deal.” 

It’s what she’s been telling herself, the words a poor attempt at comfort. Something that might help her sleep at night. It’s barely working. 

She knows it’s about balance. Compartmentalising. Work and home and the boundaries you put between. But it’s a better theory than it is a practice, especially with the job they do. Especially when it bleeds over like this. 

Beside her, Liz hums, the sound neither a confirmation or a denial. She reaches to pluck the drink from Alex’s hands, brings it to her own mouth. “You know you can’t handle whiskey,” she says, and Alex watches as she drinks from it. Barely has it in her to protest. 

“You’re paying for that,” she murmurs. Liz smirks at her, her face half-cast in shadows at this end of the bar, her eyes a strikingly clear blue where the light does hit. 

She downs half of it, swallows two large gulps in mere seconds, and this time when her hand comes down it settles on Alex’s own, the skin cold and calloused but the touch gentle. She squeezes lightly, the pressure there for only a second before it disappears, but Alex feels it. Understands it. Takes it for what is it. 

When they leave, Liz’s hand finds hers again, fingers curling around her wrist and leading her in the direction of a single cab. The touch an order Alex is more than willing to follow.

**Author's Note:**

> with this, the language of flowers series is concluded. i'd like to give a special thanks to all those who read along the way ♡
> 
> comments & kudos = ♡♡♡
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/elliotoiivia) / [tumblr](http://humanveil.tumblr.com/)


End file.
